Interaction opportunities for Indian and French students and teachers
La Fondation Dassault Systemes of France, Atal Innovation Mission (AIM)-NITI Aayog have launched third series of the ‘Student Entrepreneurship Program’ (SEP 3.0) for the young innovators of Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) by allocating seed funding to Indian students while creating interaction opportunities for Indian and French students and teachers.
The theme SEP 3.0 is based on the ‘Made in 3D – Seed the Future Entrepreneurs Program’, conceptualized and rolled out in France by La Main à la Pate Foundation and La Fondation Dassault Systèmes Europe in 2017.
As part of this program, a team from each school (6 students and a teacher) will be allocated seed funding towards creating their own start-up, design and prototype their innovation using 3D printing, prepare marketing campaign, define product pricing and create expansion strategy. With this they will receive real feel of ‘How a startup works!’. At the end of the program, each school’s startup will participate in a playful competition and present their marketing campaign in front of experts from industry and academia.
Keeping the essence of the program in mind, SEP 3.0 will allow student innovators to work closely with Dassault volunteers and gain – Mentor support, Prototyping and testing support, End-User feedback, Intellectual Property registration and Patenting of ideas, processes, products, Manufacturing support, and launch of the product in the market.
A total of 50 teams from 26 states are selected for the SEP 3.0. Top 20 teams of ATL Marathon 2019, 10 teams selected by Dassault, 10 teams from Aspirational Districts and 10 teams from Jammu, Kashmir, Ladakh and North east regions are selected, said NITI Aayog in a release on 17 Aug 2021. The scheme was launched on 16 Aug 2021.
One of the interesting parts of the program will be interaction opportunities for students and teachers between French and Indian schools. In addition to the development of Innovation mindset and exposure to start-up culture, school students and teachers will have a unique opportunity to interact and collaborate with French schools and French students for cultural and technical interactions.
Mission Director at AIM, NITI Aayog, Dr. Chintan Vaishnav said that SEP is a life changing opportunity for the young innovators to reach new heights.
“All the students who participated in this program must know that they have climbed the third range of mountains in terms of growing in the field of entrepreneurship having already worked on problem and innovation. I have no doubt in saying that these students are going to excel. SEP is not only about bringing solutions to table, but knowing how crucial the solution is for all of us,” he said.
Dassault Systemes Foundation India Chairman Sudarshan Mogasale shared his views, “With the second edition, we worked with Atal Innovation Mission to assist our future generation of students become Future Innovators.”
He further added that the programme seeks to provide opportunity to school children to develop an entrepreneurial and inventive mind set, as well as suitable exposure through activities-based learning, exploration and challenges. Indian students and teachers will have a unique opportunity to connect and interact with French schools and students for cultural and technical knowledge sharing.
Speaking during the virtual launch of SEP 3.0, Mission Director, Aspirational District Program NITI Aayog, Dr. Rakesh Ranjan, pointed out that SEP falls in line with the vision and mission of aspirational district program and that it has given a new hope to students who were looking forward for such opportunities.
“There is no dearth of talent in the aspirational districts of India, so I am sure SEP is going to be a huge success going forward,” he added.
In his address, Attaché for Scientific and Academic Cooperation for Western Region at French Embassy in Mumbai, Dr Olivier FUDYM, added, “Students learning for this pedagogy of hands-on learning is going to be a change from conventional learning.”
The Top teams of SEP 3.0 are selected through the ATL Marathon, a nationwide contest where students identify community challenges and create grass-root innovations and solutions within their ATL lab.
“Industry partnerships like these are critical to nurture the inventiveness of young students, and will enable them to create our planet a better place,” underlined NITI Aayog in the release. #technology #startups #funding #banking #investment /fiinews.com
